February
by Number One Fan of Journey
Summary: Running a flower shop isn't exactly a walk on the beach in the middle of February, especially when you go it alone. Seeing everyone else in love makes Ino wish her own crush would come. But true love may be right under her nose... InoCho, ChoIno.
1. February 13th: Store Open

She had to go unnoticed, unseen, for her mission. She crept along a wall, hiding in the shadows cast by the dim light, slinking past rows of boxes and patches of flowers until she reached a door. Her fingers carefully made their way to a paper attached to the door, and she whipped it over, darting back for cover before she was noticed.

But just as she made it past a flowery space, she could hear the people coming, surging for the door like a flower shop in February.

Probably because it _was_ a flower shop in February.

There was a loud, chaotic jingling as men and women alike jerked the door with its single Valentine's-pink bell to get to the merchandise inside. Ino, behind the counter, greeted the newcomers with a smile as she adjusted the small bun on the back of her head.

It was February 13th, the absolute last call for anyone who still wanted a girlfriend after Valentine's Day. Business had been booming in the Yamanaka flower shop since February 1st, but today was going to be the most hectic by far. Especially since Ino was the only family member available to run the shop.

Her father was off on a last-minute mission, and her mother was too ill to be running around a public store.

One way or another, it was going to be a frenzied day.

"Miss? Are the boxes of chocolate high-quality? For this price?"

The Yamanaka flower shop had gotten a small shipment of chocolates, just for the holiday. IY's father said it would boost business, but Ino didn't understand why they needed any more customers when they were already so crowded.

"They're good enough to impress anyone," Ino replied, checking the rest of the crowd for questions before she went back to the counter.

"How much are these? They don't have a price tag." A man held up a small bouquet of two flowers.

"The price is posted above the flowers!" Ino called from behind the counter.

"Is this credit card accepted here?" the man first in line to check out asked.

"Always has been," Ino sang through her teeth, trying to keep her pleasant smile.

Why couldn't customers notice the sign _right in front of them_ that answers their questions?

"Do you have any balloons?" one boy called.

"I'm afraid not." Ino barely got to check out two customers before the little bell chimed again.

"Is this the Yamanaka flower shop?" one teenager just coming in the door asked.

"If that's what the sign says, that's what it is," Ino replied. "Have a nice day," she said more pleasantly, turning back to the shopper she had just checked out.

"What kind of flower is this?"

"It's a chrysan—"

"Which bouquet you think my wife would like better?"

"I don't—"

"Could my girlfriend be allergic to this?"

"I—"

"When are you closing?"

"Why are these more expensive than the ones wrapped in plastic?"

"What do the colored roses mean?"

"Where are the discount flowers?"

"Hey, where are you going?" The questions faded to murmurs as the greenhouse door swung shut behind Ino.

She slunk down against the wall with a sigh. As if it weren't impossible enough to run the shop this busy month with the help of her family! She checked the clock on the far wall. The shop had only been open half an hour.

She got back to her feet, took a deep breath, and plunged herself back into the store's endless chaos.


	2. February 13th: Lunch Break

Ino flipped the store's sign to the "Closed" side thankfully. There were still a few more people to check out, but once they were gone, it was time for lunch. So she checked them all out—luckily, none of these three were the kind of idiots that had swarmed the shop a few hours ago—turned out the lights, locked the door, and left.

She had an hour, an hour to relax and clear her head so she wouldn't be screaming at the first idiot to show up in her second shift. But first, lunch. She stopped at her house, checking on her mom—who was feeling better, but still wasn't well enough to go back to work—picking up the lunch wrap she'd whipped up this morning, and then walking out to the park.

Choji was already on the bench where the team often met, but Shikamaru was unsurprisingly late.

"Hey, Choji," Ino called, trotting up the slight incline to the bench.

"Hey, Ino." He scooted over to make room. "I'm guessing the shop's been hectic today, huh?"

Ino sighed. "You don't know the half of it."

"You know, I think I'm going to buy some flowers myself. Would you want me to come over there for a few hours?"

"Oh, don't even joke about it, Choji!" Ino groaned.

"Just asking," Choji responded with a shrug, trying not to laugh.

"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late." Ino turned to see Shikamaru walking toward the bench.

"Oh, you're not much later than me."

Paper bags crackled and plastic lids snapped as the three got out their meals.

"So, how's the store going?" asked Shikamaru, shuffling through a bag to locate his drink.

"Well, can't complain about the business, I guess," she sighed, "but there's definitely a lot to complain about otherwise. People are _idiots_; it doesn't matter whether they're trying to buy something for their loved ones or not. It's been complete chaos in there. I'm glad to leave for a while."

"Yeah?"

Choji paused from shoving down his oversized meal for a moment. "Sounds tough. How long before you have to go back?"

"Not long enough," Ino sighed. "Looks like about…40 minutes."

"How long's it open after that?"

"We're open until 8:00 today," Ino mumbled through a mouthful of chicken and lettuce. "It's going to be a long shift," she finished wistfully.

"All right, guys, I guess I'd better get going."

"Okay, see ya."

"Good luck," Choji called as Ino jogged back toward the store.

The Yamanaka flower shop stood by itself, but it shared a city block with a handful of other stores. Ino had to walk past quite a few boutiques and resist the urge to do any more than window-shopping as she made her way to the flower shop.

There was already a frustrated crowd trying to get in the locked door. Ino made her way to the door, unlocked it, and, after being shoved and getting her feet trampled, managed to get back to the counter.

This was definitely going to be a long shift.


	3. February 13th: Store Closed

It was finally, _finally_, 8:00. The Yamanaka flower shop was finally closed. Of course, there was still a storeful to check out, but no more would come in. No more to swarm her with stupid questions, to hover around five different stands for an hour and touch _every _petal there before deciding none of them were right, to somehow slip on the doormat and knock over the carefully-arranged chocolates display.

And now the store was empty of customers. Wonderfully, wonderfully empty.

Ino rearranged the mess of jostled bouquets and flowers, putting them into their correct, organized positions, and went to the greenhouse to pick up a mop for the muddied floor.

After another few minutes of cleaning that up, it was finally time to ditch the place. Ino flicked out the lights and locked the door behind her.

"It's snowing," she murmured, holding a hand out past the shop's small awning to catch a snowflake. She pulled it back with a shiver. It probably wasn't the best idea to wear short sleeves in the middle of February—at nightfall, no less. But it was easy to forget when running around in a 75° room all day.

She sighed, releasing a cloudy puff of breath into the night air. _Guess I'll just have to deal with it._

But when she stepped out of the cover of the canopy, she realized it wasn't just snowing. Freezing sleet was tumbling out of the sky, splattering puddles of bitter water at her exposed calves. She picked up the pace; her hands were already stiff from the cold.

"Aah!" she yelped, her toes sliding off a patch of ice she hadn't noticed.

But something caught her, pulling her back to her feet before she face-planted.

"Wha…?" She turned to see Choji letting go of her collar. "Oh, Choji…"

Choji nodded. "Here," he said, pulling out a light green jacket and helping her slip it on. "I knew you'd be heading home after 8:00, and since it started sleeting…" He took a moment to open up a large, black umbrella and shuffled over so it would cover the both of them.

"Oh, gosh, thank you so much, Choji," Ino said, trying to stop her teeth from chattering.

"No problem."

Choji, knowing the way to Ino's house from picking her up a few times for team training sessions, shuffled along slightly ahead of the shivering girl.

"So," he started. "How'd the rest of the day go?"

"A l-little b-better than the morning, b-but not by much."

"Yeah?" With Ino still shivering as badly as before, Choji discreetly stepped a bit closer to her. She either didn't notice or didn't mind. "You know I would've helped you if I didn't have to train, right?"

"Th-that would've been nice… But I d-don't blame you." She sighed. "Have to d-do what our p-parents say, right?"

Choji nodded, and the two took a few more steps toward Ino's house.

"Ah!" Ino started to slip again on the sleet, but Choji quickly pulled her to his side before she fell.

"Th-thanks," she replied, inching away awkwardly.

"Uh, right." Choji just caught a glance at Ino's blush before they continued to her house.


	4. February 14th: Morning

Ino flipped the sign over, revealing the cursive-script "Open" to the public. The Yamanaka flower shop was open again, but today, Ino managed to get back to the counter long before the first customer showed up.

She had almost started to fall asleep when the bright pink bell jingled. She snapped to attention.

"Irasshaimase," she greeted as she normally would.

"Hello," the man responded, markedly making his way toward the roses.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Nope, not until I'm ready to check out."

"All right." Ino watched the man go through a few different bouquets before settling on one. "Will that be all for you today?" Ino asked as she rang them up.

"Yes, it will." He paused to get out a credit card. "So, what are you doing here, working on Valentine's Day? You should be out with your boyfriend."

"Oh… Um, I actually don't have one yet," Ino replied with an awkward chuckle as she finished the transaction.

"What, a pretty girl like you?" the man responded. "You're pulling my leg."

"No, I'm afraid not…" She cleared her throat. "Thank you for shopping at the Yamanaka flower shop. Please… come again, okay?" The man smiled and nodded, taking his bouquet and going back outside.

Ino slumped down, leaning heavily on the counter. She _should_ be with someone today, but

1. Someone has to run the shop and

2. Sasuke still hasn't been brought back to the village.

The bell jingled again, and she picked herself back up.

"Irasshaimase!"

Ino grabbed the keys to the store as she checked out the first shift's last customer, the last one to comment on how silly it is that she has to work today. She waited for the man to amble out before grabbing the jacket she remembered to bring and closing the store.

_I'll have to give this back to Choji today_, she thought, fiddling with the jacket's collar. _Since he didn't take it back last night._

She ran home, grabbed her lunch and one of her own jackets, and made her way to the park. She was the first one there today, but Shikamaru arrived just a few minutes after her.

"Where's Choji?" Ino eventually asked, already finishing one of her onigiri.

"Dunno," Shikamaru replied. "Just said he had to do something real quick."

"All right…" She allowed herself to start eating the second onigiri while she was still waiting.

And just as she finished it, Choji started up the small hill.

"Hey, Choji! What took you so long?"

"I, uh," he started, seating himself, "had to take care of something."

"All right… Oh!" Ino exclaimed. "I almost forgot… Here's your jacket back." Choji nodded and took it from her. "Thanks for that," Ino continued. "It was… thoughtful of you."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Just didn't want you to freeze in the sleet…"

"Well, thanks, anyway." Ino spun her last onigiri in her fingers as Choji prepared his meal.

"So, uh, how's the shop been today?" he asked.

"Not nearly as busy, thankfully," Ino sighed.

"Oh? That's good. I'm not busy today, if you think you need any help…"

"Naw, I should be fine, but thanks."

"Yeah. Just, uh, call me if you change your mind, okay?" he finished, seeing Ino finish the last of her lunch.

"Will do. See you guys later!"

"See ya."

"Bye…"


	5. February 14th: Afternoon

Ino hummed as she unlocked the door to the shop, glad no crowd was there to trample her. She walked inside, flipping the "Closed" sign over and walking back to the counter.

No one came for a few minutes, so she ended up wandering about the store, rearranging a few bouquets out of boredom.

_Ting-ting-ting! _Ino looked to the door. "Irasshaimase!"

"Hello," replied the brown-haired woman.

"Can I help you with anything?" Ino asked, taking a few steps to stand next to the new customer.

"I suppose so," she replied with a look around the store. "Where are the single flowers?"

"Right this way." Ino led her to the east side of the store.

"Thank you," the woman replied, taking a rose immediately but still looking through the other blooms.

"Is there anything in particular you're looking for?"

"Well… You wouldn't happen to have any eglantine roses, would you?"

"Oh, sweetbriar? Yes, we have some of those," Ino replied, showing the customer to her requested blossoms.

"Ah, this will be all, then."

"All right." Ino led the woman to the checkout. "Is someone in the hospital?" the blonde dared as the brunette fished around for funds.

"Yes," sighed the woman. "My husband. He's been in a coma for two weeks now." She handed over the money for the flowers. "I thought I'd get him an eglantine rose, for quick healing. The rose, though, is for myself."

"Really?"

"Yes. He's gotten me one, the same number of thorns and leaves, every Valentine's Day until today. But if he can't get me one, I'll just get it myself," she finished with a smile.

"Well, I hope your husband gets better… Thank you for shopping with us."

The woman nodded and headed out the door.

Ino looked back at the roses, walking over and picking one up experimentally.

_No_, she thought, throwing it back. _That's just something desperate people would do._ She shook her head, put the flower back more carefully, and walked back behind the counter.

Having nothing better to do, she tidied up the counter—which didn't need much tidying—but came across a bouquet of roses on one of the shelves.

"How did this get here?" she muttered, picking it up. "It looks like a self-arranged one… Have I sold any of those today? Or yesterday?" She frowned and twirled it in her hand, looking closer at the roses. Amongst the several reds was a nearly-hidden yellow. "We don't normally sell them like this, so it has to have been custom-made… Were there any special orders?" she muttered, trying to untangle the blur of chaos yesterday with no success.

"Well, yellow and red together is supposed to be joy," she mumbled to herself, setting the flowers down. "But there's usually a near-equal mix for that…" She poked at the single yellow blossom. "Separately, yellow is usually friendship, and red is true love…" She leaned on the counter. "So… Friendship overshadowed by true love? Or something?" She sighed.

_Well, I can't put it back if it's custom-made. I guess I'll just keep it here for display until I figure out who it belongs to_, she decided, digging out a silver bouquet stand from the insides of the counter and positioning the roses on it.

The door bell jingled, and she snapped back to attention.

"Irasshaimase!"

**A/N: **I bet _you_ know what the flowers are about... Kekeh. Reviews? :3


	6. February 14th: Evening

It was 8:00. Ino looked at the roses unhappily, trying to decide what to do with them now that it was closing time.

_Maybe I could just take them home. It's been all day, and no one's tried to claim them_, she thought. _There's no use in leaving them here._

She picked the bouquet off its stand and put on her jacket, closing the store and walking outside.

It was still cold enough to see her breath, and slush piles still dotted the pavement, but the clouds spared her from a downpour today. She splashed along the first part of her trip in silence but soon came upon a familiar figure.

"Oh, hi, Choji. What are you doing?"

The brunette walked closer, and Ino noticed another jacket in his hand. "Uh, just wanted to make sure you wouldn't be headed home in the cold without a jacket again…"

"No," Ino responded with a chuckle, "I learned my lesson." She fiddled with her own jacket's collar.

"Oh! The flowers," Choji started, but he stopped himself.

"Hm? What about them?" Ino asked, twirling the bouquet in her hand.

"Oh, uh… I, uh… N-nothing," Choji replied quickly.

"Okay…" Ino gave her teammate a funny look. "Are you all right? Have you got hypothermia or something?"

"Oh, uh, no, no, I don't."

"All right… You're just being weird, I guess," Ino sighed. "So, uh," she started, noticing Choji was still walking beside her, "how'd _your_ Valentine's Day go?"

"Oh, uh, fine, I guess."

"Why are you fidgeting like that?" Ino responded, taking a look at the boy's restlessness. "Are you sure you're not coming down with something?"

"Er, no, I'm fine…" He exhaled loudly. "Uh, listen, about those flowers…" he started awkwardly.

"Yes, what about them?" Ino responded after the brunette fell silent.

"Um, well… I, uh…" Choji cleared his throat. "Uh, I think we should hurry so they don't get too cold out here," he finished.

"Er, sure," Ino replied confusedly, picking up the pace a bit.

"Yeah, that's what I was going to… say earlier," Choji sighed quietly enough that Ino didn't hear.

"Well, uh, thanks for walking me home," Ino said, standing on the front porch of her home.

"Yeah, no problem!" Choji replied.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Right. See ya."

Ino shut the door behind her, slipped off her coat, and walked over to her room. She hung the jacket up before walking to her mother's room.

"Mom?" she started, opening to door slowly.

"Ah, you're home," her mother croaked. Ino stepped into the room despite its smell of sickness.

"How have you been?"

"Doing better. I'll probably be able to go back to the shop tomorrow if I get a good night's sleep tonight."

"Glad you're feeling better," Ino finished with a smile, turning back toward the door. "I'm going to grab some supper now. Have you already eaten?"

"Mmm-hmm. Oh!" Ino's mother started suddenly, seeing the bouquet in her daughter's hand. "Did someone get you flowers?"

"Oh, uh, no. They were just sitting on the one of the counter shelves."

"Well, that's strange…" Ino's mother shook her head. "Oh, nevermind my babbling. Go and get yourself something to eat."

"All right, Mom. Get some sleep," Ino finished, closing the door behind her.

_I wonder why she assumed someone got them for me, _Ino thought, twirling the bouquet in her hand. _She knows I don't have a boyfriend yet._

_Oh, well. Let's go get supper._

**A/N:** Can't you just see Choji facepalming over not admitting it? XD Aw, poor guy. We'll have to see if he ever tells her...


	7. February 15th: First Shift

While Saturdays normally meant a break from the store to focus on training for Ino, she couldn't leave today. Her father wasn't back from his mission, and her mother, while well enough to work the store, couldn't take both shifts by herself.

Besides, today was February 15th. In other words, all the bozos who got something for Valentine's without remembering to give something will come. Ino didn't want to leave her mother alone to deal with those idiots. They were even worse than the February 13th ones—minus the massive swarming—because they were always in such a hurry to get home and pretend the flowers had been there all along.

So Ino and her mother padded through the light snowfall back to the store. Ino was still the one to flip the "Closed" sign over, but her mother took the position behind the counter, while Ino stood near the entrance to act as greeter.

The first straggler came in only a few minutes; he was quick to purchase a dozen roses without even considering the other options.

Next was a woman, who shuffled through the few remaining boxes of chocolate before settling on a small, heart-shaped box of Turtles. She trotted over to check out.

_You shouldn't worry about getting _him_ something,_ Ino thought. _We're supposed to let the guys do all the work._

As the hours progressed, Ino found that less and less people needed a greeter. This was predictable; everyone today _was_ in a rush, after all. She walked over to the counter to switch places with her mother.

"Did you not find out who those were from?" she asked, nodding at the red-with-yellow bouquet as she stepped toward the front of the store.

"Mom, I told you, they're not from anyone. It just looks like someone bought them and forgot to bring them with him."

"Oh, do you remember selling them? Maybe we could track down who bought them."

"I don't, actually. Too much chaos to focus on much of anything the past two days."

"Oh, I see… And you're sure they're not actually for you?"

"Yes, I'm sure, Mom!" Ino finished exasperatedly.

"All right, all right. Just making sure," Ino's mother finished with a giggle.

_Or just trying to embarrass me,_ Ino thought.

"Irrasshaimase!" her mother called. Ino readied herself behind the counter.

_At least she finished before the next customer came in._

"Ah, a custom order? Here, right this way." Ino watched as her mother led a bearded man to the custom section of the store.

_But who _did_ buy these? I really don't remember having any custom orders on the 13__th__… But who knows if there actually _was_ one? _She sighed, scrutinizing the colored roses in the custom section.

But nothing succeeded in triggering her memory, so she turned back to the mystery bouquet.

The wrapper was the right shade of dark green, so it had to have come from the Yamanaka flower shop. And the roses were still in close-to-mint condition, and without water, so it must have been only a day or two ago.

But she just could _not _figure out exactly when she sold them, or whom she sold them to.

_Oh, well. I'm sure it'll work itself out._

**A/N:** Pfft. So clueless. Oh, well. I have a feeling things _may _just work themselves out. ;P


	8. February 15th: Lunchtime

"All right, honey, have fun," Ino's mom called as her daughter stepped out of the store.

"Okay," Ino replied as the door shut behind her. _Nice of her to let me take off for lunch early,_ she thought. _Guess she noticed I forgot to pack my lunch yesterday._

Soon, Ino was at her house, preparing a Greek salad. She plopped the small, clear plastic bowl and a fork into a paper bag, grabbed a water bottle, and started back out the door.

_The weather's much nicer today,_ she mused. _It's still cold, but it's at least warm enough to melt all the snow from yesterday. _She pulled on her coat and shut the door behind her with her foot.

_All right. Let's go meet the guys._ She trotted off.

"Look who's running late today," Shikamaru commented as Ino made her way to the bench.

"Aw, shut up," Ino laughed, taking her seat. She pulled out her salad and looked around. "Looks like I'm not the only one running late, though. Did Choji have something else he 'needed to take care of'?"

"Not that I know of," Shikamaru shrugged. "Must've just got caught up in something."

"Oh, okay…" Ino set up the rest of her meal and waited.

"Hey, guys!" Choji was now entering the park.

"You kept us waiting!" Ino called. "What held ya?"

"Big giveaway at that barbeque place I like," he replied, taking his seat on the bench with a very large, greasy paper sack.

"Well, that's specific," Ino replied with a chuckle, finally starting on her salad.

"Oh, you know what I mean."

"So, Choji," Shikamaru started, "how'd the thing with the flowers go?"

"Flowers?" Ino turned to face the now-fidgeting Choji. "What flowers?"

"You didn't—"

"I, uh," Choji started, interrupting Shikamaru, "got some flowers for… someone… But I, uh… didn't manage to tell her I got them."

"Oh!" Ino gasped. "Are you a secret admirer?" she finished slyly. "Who is it, huh?"

"You're freaking clueless, I—"

"Er, uh," Choji interrupted again, "well… She's really pretty… And, uh, blonde like you…" he said slowly.

"Yeah? Oh! Is it that Natsumi girl?"

"No, not her…"

"You're such a wimp, Choji. Why don't you just tell her?" Shikamaru sighed.

"Yeah, I won't tell anybody!" Ino promised, though her disposition didn't help to make it look sincere.

"It's, uh…" Choji bought himself some time by stuffing his face with pulled pork. "Her name is…"

"Her name is Ino Yamanaka," Shikamaru finished for him.

"…What?" Ino looked at Shikamaru confusedly.

"Well, nice talking with you, gotta go now," Choji said quickly, grabbing his practically-untouched lunch and speeding off like a horde of rogue ninjas was after him.

"Um…" Ino stared after him uncomprehendingly.

Shikamaru sighed. "Isn't it obvious, Ino? He walked all the way to the shop in the freezing sleet just so you wouldn't be cold? He was late the other day because he was delivering _you _flowers—flowers he bought from your own store? And you say you're smart," he scoffed.

"But…" Ino mumbled something. "I mean, he was acting weird, but I just thought he had hypothermia or something… And I don't remember selling him flowers… But it was pretty hectic on the 13th…"

Shikamaru stood up, having finished his lunch. "Well, I'll just leave you to sort it out yourself. See ya."

"Bye…" Ino ended, still confused.

_Choji… loves me?_

**A/N:** YES. Yes, he does. Thank you for finally figuring it out. XD

Well, review, please... And if you want to read longer chapters, well, check out my other fics. The short chapters are better for writing this one. *sweatdrop*


	9. February 15th: Second Shift

"How was your lunch break, hon?" Ino's mother called as her daughter walked back into the store.

"Uh, great," Ino replied insincerely. "Thanks for letting me go early…"

"Oh, no problem," her mom chuckled, throwing away the wrapper of some sort of instant lunch before going back to her position behind the counter. She fiddled with something on the register and straightened the yellow-and-red bouquet.

Ino stared at the flowers blankly.

_So, Choji was the one who got those, huh? I can't believe I don't remember seeing him at the shop… But it was awfully hectic… _She sighed. _But why? Why does he decide all of a sudden to try and change things?_

_Maybe he's loved me for a long time._

"Irasshaimase!" Ino's mom called. Ino hadn't even heard the door's bell jingle.

The customer who had just entered—a man with dark eyebrows and blonde hair—seemed to know what he was looking for, so Ino didn't go out of her way to assist him. She instead turned back to staring at her flowers.

_But he knows I'm not in love with him_, she sighed mentally. _I never have been. I mean, he's definitely not a Brad Pitt or anything. Nothing like Sasuke…_

"Uh, miss?" Ino jumped, not noticing the new customer right next to her.

"Ah, yes?" she responded, clearing her throat to recover.

"Um," the young man with wild red hair continued, "you have custom bouquets here, right?"

"Yes, we do. This way," Ino started, leading him to the wall of individual flowers. "Would you like them in a vase? It costs a little extra, but it looks nicer," she offered, glad to have something to distract her.

"Um, I guess," the red-haired man replied, looking around at the wall of flowers.

"All right," Ino replied, picking out a basic, clear vase. "What kind of bouquet would you like, then?"

"Um, well, I don't know what all the colors mean," the redhead started slowly, "but, uh…" He scrutinized the colored roses, not bothering with the many other flowers he didn't know much about.

"Oh, we have a little guide here," Ino replied, motioning at a small poster near the flowers.

"Oh, okay…" The young man stepped over to the guide and looked at it.

_I wonder if Choji figured out the flower colors from that,_ Ino mused, glancing at the poster she seldom used herself.

"It only says red and yellow is joy," she muttered incredulously.

"Uh, what?" The redhead turned around.

"Oh, nothing. Just, uh, talking to myself," Ino replied. She shook her head. "So! Anything look good?"

"Well, uh… Geez, it's kind of confusing. Heh…"

"Um, just describe the situation. I can come up with a good color scheme myself," Ino responded, twirling the plastic vase in her hand.

"Well, um…" The boy sighed. "I, uh, I've had a crush on her for the longest time, and I've been wondering how to tell her… I was going to get her something for Valentine's, but I got sick…" He sighed again, looking dejected. "I… probably don't have a chance with her, anyway…"

"Oh, don't talk like that," Ino scoffed. "You can never tell. Anyway," she started, turning back to the wall, "I'd say normal, red roses would be fine for that. In your situation, I'd say…" She paused, going through the meanings of different numbers of roses in her head. "…A dozen roses is probably plenty." She started to reach for the red roses, which greatly outnumbered all the other colors, but paused. "That is all right with you, isn't it?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I mean, you know what you're doing, so I'll trust you."

"All right, then. I'll get this set up for you."

_I wonder if that's how Choji feels about me… But… I mean, I still don't love him… Right?_


	10. February 16th: Breakfast

Ino yawned, plodding over to the kitchen for her breakfast. When she arrived, there were already two others at the table.

"Good morning, Ino!" her mother called.

"Morning, Mom," Ino replied. "And welcome back, Dad. How was the mission?"

"It went well, thanks," her father replied with a nod. "Speaking of which, you have a mission debriefing at noon today."

"Ah, okay?"

"Lady Hokage had me deliver the message," Ino's father finished, taking a sip of his drink.

Ino nodded, picking up a few slices of bread to toast. She put them in the toaster and looked through the refrigerator for milk. "All right, do you think you'll still need me for the first shift?"

"Probably not," Ino's mother replied, preparing a forkful of eggs on her plate. "I think I could handle it myself, but your father will be able to help out, too, now."

"Ah, right." Ino got out a cup to pour her milk.

"How about you go spend the morning with that Choji boy instead?" Ino's mother suggested.

"Eh?" Ino jumped as the toaster flung her breakfast up a few centimeters. "Er, why?"

"Well, you're good friends, aren't you? And I think he's pretty crazy about you," Ino's mom giggled.

"W-Well, _I'm_ not crazy about _him_!" Ino replied, wrinkling her nose. "I mean, I don't usually mind hanging out, but… It's just kind of awkward now…"

"Well, why don't you like him? He seems like a respectable boy," Ino's mom continued.

"Mom!" Ino moaned.

"All right, all right, I was just asking," Ino's mother finished with a chuckle, turning back to her meal.

Ino groaned internally, setting her breakfast on a small plate and pointedly taking a seat next to her father. She munched on her toast.

_Why _don't _I like him…? _She shook her head. _I don't need to worry about it… Besides, if I start confusing myself over that, I'll be distracted at my mission, right? We wouldn't want that to happen…_

But no matter how hard she tried to avoid it, her mind kept coming back to that question.

_He's just not cute enough. I mean, I'm not being shallow or anything; I'm just saying. If I have a choice between him and, like, a cute guy that acts like him, sure, I'm going to go for the cute guy._

_Not that I particularly like the way he acts. I mean, he's a total pig; whenever the whole team all goes out to eat, he's pretty quick to try and snag something off my plate._

_But he's not a bad person or anything… I mean, he's still really nice most of the time—well, pretty much all the time, unless you call him fat—and he's better than Sasuke when it comes to noticing me… But…_

_I'm just not in love with him._

Ino stared at her empty plate before mechanically taking it to the sink. She turned on the water, blankly watching all the crumbs go down the drain.

_There's nothing wrong with that. I have my own free will. I don't have to be in love with somebody just because he loves me._

_It's his own fault if his heart gets broken._

…_Right?_

**A/N:** Moms just LOVE making things awkward, don't they? :P


	11. February 16th: Lunch

A/N: Apologies for the long update time. Access to the computer I write this on has been wonky lately. And I've kind of lost my motive for writing this... I would really rather just stop, but I will finish it up for you guys. One more chappy after this, then, guys~ Thanks for reading!

"Leave some for us, why don't you?" Ino said with a frown, missing another chance to grab a short rib off the grill.

"Sorry," Choji replied, his mouth so full it was hard to figure out what he was saying.

Ino sighed. _I'm wondering whether you'd rather capture my heart or my food!_

"All right, guys," Asuma started, "hurry up. We have to be at the village gates by one to pick Mr. Minamoto up."

Daisuke Minamoto was an important businessperson from the Sand that needed an escort back home. Ino suspected there must have been something more to the story, considering the mission's rank, but she didn't care to ask. As long as he didn't have a village's worth of assassins after him, Ino's team could handle it.

"Well, if _someone _would actually _let_ me eat, I'm sure I could finish," Ino snorted. Choji slunk back a bit.

_Oh, come on. That _never_ gets to you,_ Ino mused. _Don't start acting like that now. _She looked on as the next piece of meat became cooked enough and snatched it up quickly. _Choji didn't look like he was going to take it, really. I just didn't want to take my chances,_ Ino contemplated as she chomped down on her lunch.

"All right, then," Asuma said, lighting up a cigarette, "everyone ready?"

"Guess so," Shikamaru replied, putting his hands behind his neck.

"Yup," Ino answered.

Choji only nodded.

_Why are you acting all depressed like that? _Ino thought with a frown as her squad started toward the village gates. _I just made one comment! It's not even like it's unusual for me to say! He's just trying to make me feel guilty, _she scoffed internally. _Well, let me tell you, it's not going to work. Just because you want to start sniveling about things doesn't mean I'll suddenly fall in love with you._

"Mr. Minamoto, I presume?" Asuma started, walking up to a man in a business kimono by the gates.

"Yes," Daisuke replied with a small bow. "Are you my escort?"

"That's right," Asuma replied. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, let's."

Ino followed as the men took the lead. She tuned out their bland business chatter—she'd had enough of working a business for a while—and turned to her own thoughts.

_So… Now Choji has decided to be a sullen little weirdo to try and get my attention. Of course, _that's_ not going to make me love him._

_Or maybe he's just suddenly awkward about things, _she considered. _But, why just out of the blue like that?_

_Maybe it's because of Valentine's Day. It was the perfect excuse to take a chance, right? So, he got me flowers, but decided he didn't want to make things awkward by telling me. But then Shikamaru decides to blurt it out, so things have gotten awkward, anyway._

_I guess that makes a lot of sense…_

_But if he's so crazy about me, why is he so afraid to say it? He'll tell me off like no tomorrow if I eat the last potato chip, but he can't say three simple words to me?_

_Well, I'll tell you one thing, Choji: I'm not going to wait forever._


	12. February 16th: Supper

A/N: Well, everyone, here is the final chapter. I hope you all like it. Thanks a bunch for all the views and reviews. :)

Four sets of chopsticks clicked quietly as Ino, Shikamaru, Asuma, and Daisuke ate their meals.

"And you said that's the best you can do right now?" Asuma started, looking over at Ino and then her brunette teammate.

"Yeah," Ino muttered. "I'm still really new to the medical training, so I wasn't able to do much…"

"That's okay; I don't think he's in that bad a condition," Asuma sighed. "He won't be back up fighting for a while, but it's nothing serious, so don't worry about it."

"But it should have been me!" Ino blurted out.

"Not _should_ have, _would_ have. It's not your fault he decided to take the hit for you."

"I'm not sure about that," Ino muttered, looking down at the meal she had suddenly lost her appetite for.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Asuma reiterated. "It's no big deal."

"Right…" Ino stared blankly at her meal as the three others around the campfire continued eating. She looked back at the tent her unconscious teammate was in for a moment.

_I'm sorry, Choji… This is all my fault. I…I should've been paying more attention. Then you wouldn't have had to get hurt for me…_

_I mean, stuff like this has happened before, _she started, _but_ _this is the first time it's been this bad…_

_Was this just another attempt to tell me you love me? _She sighed frustratedly. _For Kami's sake, why can't you just _say_ it?_

She paused. _But… it _has _happened before, so… maybe he wasn't just trying to "proclaim his love for me"._

_That, or he's been trying to do that this whole time._

Ino looked back over at Choji's tent, whose edges were flapping in the mild breeze.

…_Could that be it?_

"Hey, Ino." Ino jumped up a bit, looking over at her other teammate, who was now standing in front of her, holding an empty rice bowl. "You get to clean up supper today, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Ino replied, standing up and sweeping some dirt off the backs of her legs that must have gotten there from the log she was sitting on. "Here." She tucked her bowl in her elbow and held out a hand, where Shikamaru placed his bowl.

"Thank you," Shikamaru replied, though he didn't sound particularly sincere about it.

Ino went around the campfire, where Asuma and Daisuke had by now finished their meals, and picked up their dirty dishes as well. She walked over to the stream the squad had found—it wasn't far from the campsite—and prepared to wash the dishes out.

_Darn it, Choji! Have you really… been in love with me… the whole time…?_

_I… I guess it's been kind of obvious, now that I think about it… But…_

"Hey."

Ino jerked up, almost dropping a rice bowl, as she turned to face the voice. "Choji! What are you doing up? Y-You should still be resting, a-and…"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Choji grunted, leaning back against a tree.

"I-I'm perfectly fine!" Ino exclaimed. "But _you_ can't be! Go and get some rest!"

"I will," Choji responded, "but I, uh, wanted to say thanks first. For, uh, healing me and everything."

"Well, what I did isn't going to help much if you keep moving around," Ino sighed, washing the next dish. "I'm guessing that's not all you came to tell me?"

"N-No, it's not…" Choji sighed, as if he suddenly couldn't decide what to say.

"So, what _did _you come to say?" Ino prodded, setting the bowls next to her.

"I…" Choji exhaled, sitting down next to his teammate. "D-Do you love me?" he finally blurted out.

Ino, taken by surprise, couldn't find her tongue for a moment. "I-I… I…" She sighed. "N-No, I-I really couldn't say that I'm in love with you… But…" She moved her hand over on the grass, her fingertips landing on Choji's.

"…Maybe I could be."


End file.
